More Easy Travel Days on the Atlantic ICW

 TRAVEL DAY 10 - Ft. Pierce to Melbourne

February 27, 2023

6.88 Hours/53.5 Miles

    There seems to be no shortage of things to do or fix on the boat. Everyday starts and ends with planning, with more planning on the way. After 3 days in Ft. Pierce it was time to move further north. We moved up the Indian River and the ICW toward our intended anchorage at Sebastian. The water is broad through here but very shallow outside of the channel with hundreds of small islands and shoals. Loaded with Trout and Snook in so many hidden coves. 

Ft. Pierce Sunrise

Sailboats everywhere
                     
Loved the look of this boat!

Ft. Pierce City Marina

    At around 12:30 pm and just in time for lunch, we approached Sebastian and the anchorage just off the ICW east of Captain Hiram's & Fin's Marina.  We didn't get a good feeling about it. Not only was the water shallow even at the mid-tide we were at, there were quite a few "ratty" looking sailboats and derelicts in the anchorage. We circled around the island in front of Fin's Marina, squeaked past the sandy shoal and the marker and looped back out to the ICW. A little disappointed about not getting lunch at Captain Hiram's we decided we might as well eat on board and keep motoring toward Melbourne and hopefully a more suitable place to "drop the hook". 

Sebastian

    At 3:15 pm we passed under the Melbourne Causeway and could see one of our new Looper friends on the NEBO app, "Chipmonk" at the Melbourne Harbor Marina. We continued on another 30 minutes and passed under the Eau Gallie Causeway and turned west into the anchorage. There were about 5 other sailboats here and the water was deeper. We moved slowly to shore avoiding a few crab traps and dropped anchor in 8' of water.  There were dolphins rolling in every direction. We dropped the dinghy and went ashore at Squidlips and cooled off for an hour. 

So many Dolphins

On the Hook

Beth takes over the dinghy

Squid Lips

    Back at the boat, another great sunset, grilled chicken and vegetables and of course the daily Conch ceremony. At one point we could see the trail from a rocket launched at Cape Canaveral. 

Rocket Trail

Another Lecture from the Captain


Ft. Pierce to Melbourne



   TRAVEL DAY 11 - Melbourne

February 28, 2023

1.5 Hours/10.7 Miles

     The next morning we intended to move on to Cocoa but I was concerned about getting some fuel. My gauges showed low and even though I was sure I had more than enough, I decided we should fill up. Our options were limited so we decided to go south back to the first bridge and fuel up at Melbourne Harbor Marina where Chipmonk had been. We called the harbor master to inquire about fuel and a "day dock". "Yup Captain, we have diesel and twenty bucks for a day slip". 

Snug at Anchor

    A short 30 minute ride and into the shallow channel we radioed our approach, received our instructions and backed the Camano into the berth. We filled up both tanks, a total of 54 gallons which meant we had another 40 gallons or so. Better safe than "bleeding diesel injector lines".  The Dockmaster gave us the day slip for $10 with the fuel, we had until 5pm so we made the short hike into Melbourne. 

Melbourne Harbor Marina

    The little historic downtown located in Brevard County is a great tourist destination with quite a few shops and restaurants located in some pretty neat looking buildings. With train tracks splitting the town, just like Ft. Pierce and so many other towns on this coast that Flagler helped connect. We of course made our way to Hell'n Blazes Brewing for an IPA and a fantastic lunch. The back of the brewery has a assortment of games, so we continued our dart rivalry which I barely eked out another bullseye win. 

Hell'n Blazes Brewery

Beth places the darts!

Near dart ricochet injury
                                                      
The games continue

                            
Cute Downtown

    Back to our floating home and the short ride under two bridges and to set the anchor pretty much in the same location as the night before. Time for the Conch celebration. 

       


Anchorage to Melbourne

Comments

  1. Rachel EnsingMarch 3, 2023 at 8:03 AM

    I see that drone is coming in handy to take pics!! Nice blog post

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pau HanaMarch 5, 2023 at 8:53 PM

      We are having a blast, lots to do & lots to figure out!!

      Delete

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